Vanilla

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT VANILLA - PAGE 2

KOCHI: The Centre has cleared two Spices Board schemes involving an outlay of Rs 1.3 crore for improved cardamom curing devices and rain water harvesting for irrigation in small cardamom and vanilla plantations during the current financial year. The schemes are proposed to support small and marginal growers of cardamom and vanilla owning up to four hectares. Under the scheme for improved curing devices, Cardamom growers will be eligible for assistance at the rate of 33.3% of the actual cost of the drier subject to a maximum of Rs 1 lakh.

NEW DELHI: Danisco, one of the world's leading producers of ingredients for food and other consumer products is looking at India as a sourcing base for key raw materials. The company has started sourcing organic vanilla ? the world's most popular natural flavour ? from India, for the first time. And now, the $2.9bn Danish ingredient giant is scouting for a possibility of sourcing a range of raw materials if they meet the criteria set by its vanilla experience. On the cards, is sourcing agri-raw materials such as castor oil from north western India.

KOLKATA: Chill out this summer with oranges from Brazil, pineapple and kiwi from Vietnam, vanilla from France and cranberry from the US. A number of ice-cream manufacturers are all set to flood the domestic market with ice-creams that will contain such exotic fruits. These ice-creams are mostly targeted at GenY who are ready to experiment with flavours. Companies like Mother Dairy has also lined up plans to introduce frozen desserts called sorbet made from sweetened water, flavouring and a significant amount of fruit pulp for the first time.

LONDON: It's a defining moment for the humble custard cream - the crispy, mouth-watering biscuit has finally made it into the latest edition of the Oxford English dictionary. Literary experts included the popular vanilla-filled snack after nine out of ten people in the United Kingdom voted it their top biscuit in a survey. "Noun. Biscuit with vanilla-flavoured cream filling," reads its definition in the dictionary. The treat, invented 100 years ago, features alongside new words such as "muffin top: a roll of fat above the top of a pair of women's tight-fitting, low-waisted trousers," 'The Sun' has reported.

The fact that the 111th annual conference of the United Planters' Association of Southern India replaced individual commodity sessions with one on inter-planting indicates a paradigm shift of sorts. Tea and coffee growers have been facing a crisis over the last few years with realisations falling below the average cost of production. Not that inter-planting is new. If some coffee plantations have been showing profits even in bad years, it has been due to the inter-crop of pepper adding masala to the bottom line.

KOCHI: Here is some good news for the health buffs and die-hard greens. Organic farming in the country is gradually becoming a movement and those who practice it, a force to reckon with. If last year's growth trends are any indication, the coming years would see Indian organic farming population growing manifold and the acreage increasing at a rate above 100%. Super markets are springing up in southern India with special counters for organic products. In spices alone, the country exported 234 tonne of organic spices in '04-05.

KERALA is famous for its spicy and tangy cuisine as much as its scenic beauty; it isn't called God's own country for nothing. On a recent trip to Alleppey with my husband and daughter, I realised just how true that adage is... We "discovered" Puthankayal Island quite by chance. Our boatman told us that it's the last island to be reclaimed from the backwaters for agriculture and is therefore some two meters below sea level! The retaining dyke around the perimeter of the island keeps the lake water from entering the farm, apparently.

Ayubowan !" the dapper man greeted me at the entrance of the spice garden. A pleasant smile creased his craggy face, "Welcome!" he repeated. I was at the spice garden to experience the magic of Sri Lankan spices that had brought the European traders to the Sri Lankan shores and I smiled in answer. "You are from India?" it was more a statement than a question. "In that case, you would know a lot about spices already ," said Gamini, the man who was to lead me through the maze of spice herbs and climbers, that morning.

Max New York Life Shubh Invest is a vanilla type II unit-linked insurance plan, focusing on the first-time investors. Shubh Invest is a very simple clearly defined plan leaving not many loopholes for a raw investor to get entangled. It offers inbuilt critical illness insurance as well. Investment options (funds) are also limited to only two dynamic allocations and balanced fund. COST STRUCTURE: The premium allocation charge of Shubh Invest is in line with most other products in the market.